Upstate New York may be home to four new casinos if the governor of the state has his say so. Andrew Cuomo recently proposed a new bill to the State Legislature which would see four new casinos in the area. The bill originally asked for the addition of three casinos but now the governor has asked for four casinos to be created and each casino would be protected against any downstate competition during the first few years after the casinos become operational.
The governor would divide the upstate region of the state into non-Indian land sections and this would allow for one new casino to be created to one of the four different regions. A deadline for completion has yet to be named but the new casinos would be limited to the tribe land called the Catskills. The governor believes that this area would benefit greatly from the additions.
Aileen Gunther, a Assemblywoman in the state, as well as Senator John Bonacic, are both in favor of the new bill. Bonacic however would like to see five new casinos in the area. Boancic stated: “I am hopeful the governor can consider authorizing five casinos upstate now. I fear if he does not, it will leave it to open-ended, allowing casino naysayers and those who play to NIMBYism more fodder to oppose to the referendum.”
Not everyone is in favor of the new legislation. The New York Gaming Association is against the new proposal. The board is representing the slot gaming facilities in the state and they feel as though the new casinos would be harmful to these businesses. The slot parlors create around $1 billion dollars every year in revenues which go towards education so they are beneficial to the state.
Cuomo has thought of the losses the slot parlors may have and has added a 25% tax rate for the casinos so that the difference will be made by the casinos.